Government falls behind on building houses

The Government's plans to fix the Auckland housing crisis have slowed significantly, with new figures obtained by Newshub showing it'll take much longer to deliver on much-needed homes.

Last year, the Government delivered on less than half of its plans for Auckland.

In June the Government projected 874 new houses would be built on Crown-owned land but by October the number dropped to just 403 - down by 53 percent.

The figures come after Newshub revealed that three sites earmarked for housing can't actually be built on.

That includes a site at Wiri Station Rd which Housing Minister Nick Smith showed off on a media bus tour in 2015, just after it was announced the Government planned to use 500 hectares of Crown land for housing.

Labour leader Andrew Little said it's been a shambles.

"There's been so many stuff ups, cock ups, muck ups, I'm not sure the guy's got any shame left."

Dr Smith issued a statement to Newshub saying that out of all the land he took media for a tour on in 2015, the block at Wiri was the only one that wasn't going ahead. The statement listed four developments that are going ahead - with a total of 476 homes.

The Auckland sites currently being developed through the Crown Land Programme are:

Moire Road, Massey, 196 dwellings

Great North Road, Waterview, 120 dwellings

New North Road, Mt Albert, 100 dwellings

Titoki Street, Te Atatu, 60 dwellings

Prime Minister Bill English has defended Dr Smith.

"He's done a good job actually, some people think you can just decide to have more houses and they magically appear".